Multimedia message transfer

ABSTRACT

A method for multi-media message transfer transmits a message to multiple recipients. The method includes receiving a message addressed to multiple recipients. The method also includes determining an indication of a state of each recipient. The method also includes transmitting an acknowledgement. The acknowledgment includes at least one message identifying at least one recipient and the associated state of the at least one recipient.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/931,110, filed on Sep. 1, 2004, which claims the benefit of 35 U.S.C.§119 of GB Application Number 0402774.4, filed on Feb. 9, 2004. Thedisclosures of the prior applications are hereby incorporated byreference in their entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to message transfer transmissions to a pluralityof recipients, and particularly but not exclusively to multimediamessage transfer between multimedia messaging service relays/servers indifferent multimedia messaging service environments.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

In 3GPP TS23.140 version 6.1.0 (or later), the MM4 interface andprotocol set supports the sending of messages that have multiplerecipients from a multimedia messaging service (MMS) relay/server in onemultimedia messaging service environment (MMSE) to another MMSrelay/server in a different MMSE.

In 3GPP TS23.140 version 6.1.0 there is defined a multimedia service(MMS) reference architecture, identifying reference points within amultimedia service network architecture (MMSNA). The reference pointsrepresent interfaces in the MMS reference architecture. Eight referencepoints are defined, and labelled MM1 to MM8. The reference pointsrepresent the interfaces, respectively, between an MMS user agent and anMMS relay/server; between an MMS relay and an MMS server; between an MMSrelay/server and an external (legacy) messaging system; between an MMSrelay server and another MMS relay server within another MMSE; betweenan MMS relay/server and a home location register; between an MMSrelay/server and an MMS user database; between an MMS relay/server andan MMS VAS (value added service) application; and between an MMSrelay/server and a billing system.

The reference point between the MMS relay/server and another MMSrelay/server that is within another MMSE is labelled MM4.

3GPP TS23.140 version 6.1.0 defines the MM4 interface and a protocol setfor supporting the sending of messages between an MMS relay/server in afirst MMSE and an MMS relay/server in a second MMSE. The interface andprotocol allows the sending of messages between the respective MMSrelay/servers that have multiple recipients. Before 3GPP TS23.140version 6.1.0 it was possible to send messages with multiple recipientsin the interface provided by the MM1 reference point, which is the lowbandwidth air interface. However in the core network, where the capacityhas not usually been a problem, messages have been transferredindividually to each recipient.

In 3GPP TS23.140 version 6.1.0 messages are sent to multiple recipientsin a MM4_forward.REQ protocol data unit (pdu) message from an originatorMMS relay/server to a recipient MMS relay/server. This message carries a“message ID” information element, which uniquely identifies the messageand which is applicable to all recipients. The message includes MMScontrol information and the multimedia content.

The originator MMS relay/server can optionally request the recipient MMSrelay/server to acknowledge the message transfer in the MM4 interface.Then the recipient MMS relay/server responds with a MM4_forward.RES pdumessage, which provides the status of the request. However if multiplerecipients are addressed in the request message, the recipient MMSrelay/server can only respond with a limited response message. Theresponse messages contain only the message ID, which is unique to themessage but not to any intended recipient. No indication of a recipientcausing a partial addressing failure is contained in the responsemessage.

It is an aim of the invention to provide an improved messaginginterface. In particular, it is an aim of embodiments of the inventionto provide an improved MMS messaging interface between different MMSenvironments.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect of the invention there is provided a method oftransmitting a message to multiple recipients comprising: receiving amessage addressed to multiple recipients; determining an indication of astate of each recipient; and transmitting an acknowledgement, theacknowledgment including at least one message identifying at least onerecipient and the associated state of said at least one recipient.

The state of each recipient may indicate a transmission status of themessage to that recipient. The step of receiving a message addressed tomultiple recipients may include receiving a request to transmit themessage to multiple recipients. The request to transmit the message tomultiple recipients may be inherent in the receipt of a messageaddressed to multiple recipients. The request to transmit the message tomultiple recipients may be embedded in the receipt of a messageaddressed to multiple recipients.

The acknowledgement may include a plurality of messages each identifyingat least one recipient, and each including one of a correspondingplurality of states. The acknowledgement may include at least onemessage identifying a plurality of sets of recipients and acorresponding plurality of states, each state being associated with aset of recipients. Each set may contain one or more recipients.

The state may indicate one of: an invalid recipient address; anincomplete transmission; or a successful transmission. The status mayindicate that the state is unknown.

The method may further comprise the step of, responsive to receipt of anacknowledgement message indicating an incomplete transmission,retransmitting the message to the at least one recipient identified insaid acknowledgement message.

The at least one message identifying at least one recipient and a stateof the transmission to said at least one recipient may identify aplurality of recipients, said state being common to all of saididentified recipients.

The method may further comprise the step of receiving a request totransmit the message from a message originator, and transmitting theacknowledgement to the message originator.

The message originator may have a mailbox and the acknowledgement istransmitted to the mailbox. The acknowledgement may provide the messageoriginator with a delivery status for each recipient.

At least one message may be transmitted using session initiationprotocol. The message may be a multi-media service message.

In a further aspect the invention provides a method of transmitting amulti-media message to multiple recipients comprising: receiving at anoriginating multi-media service element a request to transmit themessage to multiple recipients in a different multi-media serviceenvironment; transmitting the multi-media message from the originatingmulti-media service element to a recipient multi-media service elementof the different multi-media service environment, including an identityof the recipients; determining the status of each recipient at therecipient multi-media service element; and transmitting anacknowledgement from the recipient multi-media service element to theoriginating multi-media service element, the acknowledgment including atleast one message identifying at least one recipient and a status ofsaid recipient.

The multiple recipients of the different multi-media service environmentmay be subscribers of the different multi-media service environment.

The request to transmit the message to multiple recipients in adifferent multi-media service environment may further include a requestto transmit the message to one or more recipients in the originatingmulti-media service environment. The request to transmit the message tomultiple recipients in a different multi-media service environment mayfurther include a request to transmit the message to one or morerecipients in a still further different multi-media service environment.

Responsive to an acknowledgement message indicating an incompletetransmission status, the method may include retransmitting themulti-media message from the originating multi-media service element toa recipient multi-media service element of the different multi-mediaservice environment, the retransmitted message identifying therecipients associated with the incomplete transmission status.

In a further aspect the invention may provide a MM4_forward.RES protocoldata unit message format in accordance with 3GPP TS23.140, including aninformation element identifying at least one recipient, the status insaid message applying to said at least one recipient. The informationelement may identify a plurality of recipients, the status in saidmessage applying to the plurality of recipients.

In a still further aspect the invention provides a network elementincluding means for receiving a message addressed to multiplerecipients; means for determining an indication of a state of eachrecipient; and means for transmitting an acknowledgement, theacknowledgment including at least one message identifying at least onerecipient and the associated state of said at least one recipient.

The means for transmitting an acknowledgement may be adapted to transmita plurality of messages identifying at least one recipient, each of saidplurality of messages including one of a corresponding plurality ofstates.

In yet a further aspect the invention provides a network elementincluding means for receiving a message addressed to multiplerecipients; means for forwarding such message with an identity of saidmultiple recipients; and means for receiving an acknowledgement messageincluding at least one message identifying at least one recipient andthe associated state of said at least one recipient.

The network element may further include means for re-forwarding suchmessage identifying those recipients associated with a statecorresponding to a transmission failure.

The invention still further provides, in a multi-media messaging system,an originating multi-media service element having means for receiving arequest to transmit a message to multiple recipients in a differentmulti-media service environment; and means for transmitting themulti-media message from the originating multi-media service element toa recipient multi-media service element of the different multi-mediaservice environment; and the recipient multimedia service elementincluding means for determining the status of each recipient; and meansfor transmitting an acknowledgement from the recipient multi-mediaservice element to the originating multi-media service element, theacknowledgment including at least one message identifying at least onerecipient and a status of said recipient.

The multimedia service elements may comprise multimedia service relays,servers, or relay/servers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The invention is described herein by way of example with reference tothe accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates the inter-working of different multimedia serviceenvironments;

FIG. 2 illustrates a messaging flow in an embodiment of the inventionapplied to the environment of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 illustrates the method steps associated with the message flow ofFIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The invention is described herein by way of reference to particularexample applications. The invention however is not limited to suchapplications.

In particular, the invention is described in an exemplary implementationof the exchange of multimedia service messages between differentmultimedia service environments. Reference is made to FIG. 1, in whichthere is illustrated an overview of the inter-working of two differentmultimedia service environments (MMSE), as defined by 3GPP TS23.140version 6.4.0.

Referring to FIG. 1, a first multimedia service (MMS) user agent (UA) A,denoted by reference numeral 104 a, is connected to a first MMSrelay/server A, denoted by reference numeral 106 a, of a first MMSEservice provider A, denoted by reference numeral 102 a. A second MMSuser agent B, denoted by reference numeral 104 b, is connected to asecond MMS relay/server B, denoted by reference numeral 106 b, of asecond MMSE service provider B, denoted by reference numeral 102 b. Eachof the user agents 104 a and 104 b is connected to the respective MMSrelay/server via an interface connection 108 a and 108 b respectively.The first and second MMS relay/servers 106 a and 106 b areinterconnected via an interface 110.

Each of the MMS user agents 104 a and 104 b constitutes an applicationresiding on a user equipment, a mobile station, or an external devicethat performs MMS-specific operations on a user's behalf. The MMS useragent is not considered part of an MMSE. Each of the MMS relay/servers106 a and 106 b is an MMS-specific network entity/application or elementthat operates under the control of an MMS service provider. Each MMSrelay/server transfers messages, provides operations of the MMS that arespecific to or required by the mobile environment, and providestemporary and/or persistent storage services to the MMS.

The MMS reference architecture, as defined by 3GPP TS23.140 version6.4.0, defines an MMS reference architecture and eight interfaces withinthe reference architecture denoted MM1 to MM8. FIG. 1 shows two of thesereference points. The interfaces 108 a and 108 b between the MMS useragents and the MMS relay/servers represent the reference point MM1,being the reference point between the MMS user agent and the MMSrelay/server. The reference point MM1 is used to submit multimediamessages from a MMS user agent to an MMS relay/server, to let the MMSuser agent pull multimedia messages from the MMS relay/server, to letthe MMS relay/server push information about multimedia messages to theMMS user agent as part of a multimedia message notification, and toexchange delivery ports between MMS relay/server and MMS user agents.

The interface 110 between the MMS relay/servers of the respectiveservice environments represents the interface MM4, being the referencepoint between the MMS relay server and another MMS relay/server that iswithin another MMSE. The interface provided by reference point MM4 isused to transfer messages between the respective MMS relay/servers. Theinterworking between MMS relay/servers is based on the simple mailtransfer protocol (SMTP).

Each MMS relay/server is adapted for peer discovery, to locate MMSrelay/servers in other MMSEs. In a multimedia message transmission, anMMS relay/server which is transmitting a message is termed anoriginator, and an MMS relay/server which is receiving a message istermed a recipient or destination. After successful discovery of a peerentity, an originator MMS relay/server routes a multimedia requestmessage to the recipient MMS relay/server. This request message containsMMS control information and the multimedia message content. Therecipient MMS relay/server must respond with a response message if theoriginating MMS relay/server has an “acknowledgement request”information element field set in the MM4_forward.REQ message. Theresponse message provides, for example, the status of the request. Therequest message is an MM4_forward.REQ message, and the response messageis an MM4_forward.RES message. These messages are of protocol data units(PDUs) defined by 3GPP TS23.140.

The invention, in this embodiment, provides for an adaptation of theresponse message, as discussed further hereinbelow. No adaptation of therequest message is necessary.

In accordance with this embodiment of the invention, an additionalinformation element is included in the MM4_forward.RES message. Thisinformation element is termed “recipients”. However the name of theinformation element is not limiting. The information element includes alist of recipients. If the MM4_forward.RES message contains a collectivestatus indication in response to a MM4_forward.RES message, withmultiple recipients, the list of recipients contained in theMM4_forward.RES message identifies the recipients to whom the collectivestatus applies. A MM4_forward.RES message includes a request statusvalue, and this request status value applies to all recipientsidentified in that message.

The information elements in the MM4_forward.RES protocol data unitmessage, adapted in accordance with this embodiment of the invention, isillustrated below in Table 1.

TABLE 1 Information element Presence Description 3GPP MMS Mandatory TheMMS version of the recipient MMS Version Relay/Server as defined by thepresent document. Message Mandatory The type of message used onreference point Type MM4: “MM4_forward.RES”. Transaction Mandatory Theidentification of the ID MM4_forward.REQ/MM4_forward.RES pair. MessageMandatory The Message ID of the MM which has been ID forwarded withinthe corresponding MM4_forward.REQ Recipients Condi- List of recipients,tional If the MM4_forward.RES contains a collective status indication inresponse to a MM4_forward.RES with multiple recipients, this listidentifies the recipients to whom the Request Status value contained inthis pdu applies. Request Mandatory The status of the request to routeforward the Status MM. Request Optional Status text corresponding to theRequest Status text Status

All of the information elements shown in Table 1 are defined in 3GPPTS23.140 version 6.4.0, with the exception of the new informationelement in accordance with this embodiment of the invention, namely the“recipients” information element. The other information elements shownwill be familiar to one skilled in the art, and the function of suchinformation elements are described in the “description” column ofTable 1. The “presence” column of Table 1 identifies whether thepresence of such information element is optional, mandatory, orconditional.

As shown in Table 1 the presence of the “recipients” information elementis conditional. For example, if the message was addressed to a singlerecipient, it is not essential to include the “recipients” informationelement in the response, since it is effectively redundant. Further, ifthe request status is the same for all recipients, the recipientinformation element is not necessarily needed in the response. However,in both cases the recipient information element may nevertheless bepresent.

The operation of an embodiment of the invention to secure the reliabletransfer of multimedia services between multimedia service environmentsis now further described with reference to the message flow of FIG. 2and the flow process of FIG. 3.

Referring to FIG. 2, an example is shown in which a multimedia messageis transmitted by the MMS relay/server A 106 a to the MMS relay/server B106 b. Thus the MMS relay/server A 106 a is the originating multimediamessaging service controller (MMSC), and the MMS relay/server B 106 b isthe destination or recipient MMSC.

In a step 302, an MMS request is received on a line 202 at theoriginating MMS relay/server 106 a. In the example, the MMS is to besent to five recipients, labelled a, b, c, d, e. As known in the art,the originating MMS relay/server 106 a carries out a discovery processto identify the appropriate peer MMS relay/server. In this way thedestination or recipient MMS relay/server 106 b is identified. In thisexample, all five recipients are located for simplicity within the sameMMSE 102 b, i.e. controlled by MMS relay/server 106 b, however this maynot necessarily be the case in practical implementations. Theoriginating MMS relay/server 106 a receives the MMS on the airinterface, which is denoted by the reference point MM1 in the MMSreference architecture.

As denoted by step 304, the interface provided by the MM4 referencepoint, denoted by reference numeral 204, is then used by the originatingMMS relay/server 106 a to transmit an MMS request message (denoted as aMM4_forward.REQ pdu by 3GPP TS 23.140), including the identity of thefive recipients, to the destination MMS relay/server 106 b. According to3GPP TS 23.140 version 6.1.0, the request for an acknowledgement is anoptional feature. However, the invention described herein appliesequally even if the provision of an acknowledgement is mandatory. Asdiscussed hereinabove, the message sent on the MM4 interface 204 is anSMTP message, and is an MM4_forward.REQ pdu request message. The messagefurther includes a unique identifier, which uniquely identifies themessage.

As denoted by step 306, the recipient MMS relay/server 106 b receivesthe MMS request message from the originating MMS relay/server 106 a onthe MM4 interface 204.

A recipient MMS relay/server, upon receiving a MMS request message, andspecifically a MM4_forward.REQ pdu, has to determine the request statuscode for each recipient before attempting to forward the pdu to therecipients. This is known in the art, and is necessary because oflatency involved in communicating with the recipients (e.g. therecipient may itself determine when it is willing to retrieve the pdu).It should be noted that the recipients are user agents.

In order to determine the request status code for each recipient, therecipient MMS relay/server additionally retrieves a user agent profilefor each recipient. This is also denoted by step 306. The user agentprofiles are retrieved from a database denoted as the reference pointMM6 by 3GPP TS23.140 version 6.1.0.

In a step 308 the receiving MMS relay/server examines both theMM4_forward.REQ pdu it has received and a user agent profile itretrieves from the database. The user agent profile contains adescription of the capabilities of the user agent and possibly otheruser agent-specific data, e.g. whether the user agent is barred. Thereceiving MMS relay/server then determines for each user agent (orrecipient) whether the actual message (whish is of the formatMM1_retrieve.RES generated from the MM4_forward.REQ) can be forwarded tothe user agent in question. Following such determination, a status codeis determined for each recipient as denoted by step 310.

The possible request status codes defined by 3GPP TS 23.140 version6.4.0, and their meanings, are set out in Table 2 below.

TABLE 2 X-Mms-Request- Status-Code Meaning Ok The corresponding requestand some or all of its contents were accepted without errors.Error-unspecified An unspecified error occurred during the processing orreception of the corresponding request. Error-service- The correspondingrequest was rejected denied due to failure of authentication orauthorisation of the originating MMS Relay/Server. Error-message- Aninconsistency with the message format format-corrupt was detected whenthe corresponding request was parsed. Error-sending- There were no MMSaddress (From:, To:, address- Cc:, Bcc:) in its proper format or none ofunresolved the addresses belong to the recipient MMS Relay/Server.Error-message- This status code is obsolete not-found Error-network- Therecipient MMS Relay/Server was not problem able to accept thecorresponding request due to capacity overload. Error-content- The MMcontent was not accepted due to not-accepted size, media type,copyrights or some other reason. Error- The recipient MMS Relay/Serverdoes not unsupported- support the corresponding request abstract messagemessage.

Not all of the status codes are possible as a result of the examinationof step 308. Those status codes that may possibly be determined for eachrecipient in accordance with embodiments of the invention are discussedfurther hereafter.

The “Ok” status code indicates that the message can be delivered to therecipient ‘as is’, or after content adaptation performed by therecipient MMS relay/server

The “Error-sending-address-unresolved” status code indicates that theparticular recipient (user agent) is not a subscriber of the recipientMMS relay/server

The “Error-content-not-accepted” status code indicates that theparticular recipient (user agent) is unable to accept the content of themessage.

The “Error-network-problem” status code indicates that the recipient MMSrelay/server is not able to accept the corresponding request due to acapacity overload. This status could conceivably be given on a perrecipient (user agent) basis from the MMS relay/servers that may set alimit on the maximum number of recipients allowed for a single message.This status could also conceivably occur if some of the recipients areactually applications (instead of handsets) that are temporarilyoverloaded or unavailable.

The other codes listed in Table 2 and not mentioned hereinabove apply tothe MM4_forward.REQ pdu as an entity, and not to the individualrecipients (user agents), and thus are not relevant to the embodimentsof the invention. However new status codes may be introduced in revisedversions of 3GPP TS 23.140 and some of them may be recipient specific.

After the status determination step, in a step 312 the message may beforwarded by the recipient MMS relay/server to those recipients to whichtransmission is possible in accordance with standardised techniques.

The destination or recipient MMS relay/server 106 b processes thetransmission of the MMS message to each of the recipients a, b, c, d, eindividually. This is represented graphically in FIG. 2. by therespective signals 206 a to 206 e. These signals 206 a to 206 eillustrate processing of the MMSs individually in the recipient MMSrelay/server 106 b. However, as shown in FIG. 2 the messages are notnecessarily successfully delivered to all recipients.

It should be noted that the transmission of these messages to theindividual recipients in accordance with a determined status is known inthe art. The invention does not propose any adaptation to the messagestransmitted on the interface provided by the MM1 reference point. It isenvisaged, however, that the invention will support any modifications tothe interface provided by the MM1 reference point, and the creation ofany new messages in the future.

It should be noted that step 312 may occur to transmit the messages anytime after the status of the recipients are determined, and the order ofoccurrence of step 312 in FIG. 3 need not be adhered to.

After the determination of the status code for each recipient in step310, in step 314 the recipient MMS relay/server groups the recipients inaccordance with shared status codes Thus the destination or recipientMMS relay/server 106 b collates the status codes for the variousrecipients. The recipients are then all grouped according to particularcategories. Thus, for example, each recipient which has an “Ok” statuscode is grouped together etc.

Thereafter, as represented by step 316, the destination or recipient MMSrelay/server 106 b transmits multiple acknowledgement messages back tothe originating MMS relay/server, the number of acknowledgement messagescorresponding to the number of types of status code identified as beingassociated with the individual recipients. Thus if all recipients havean “Ok” status code, for example, a single acknowledgement may betransmitted back to the originating MMS relay/server 106 a.

In the example described, a first acknowledgement message is transmittedback as signal 210, identifying the recipients a and d, and indicatingthe status to be “ok”. A second acknowledgement message is transmittedback, as signal 212, identifying the recipients b and e, and identifyingthe transmission status to be a transient fault. A third acknowledgementmessage is transmitted as signal 214, identifying recipient c, andindicating that an invalid address was provided. Each of theacknowledgement messages is transmitted as an MM4_forward.RES pdumessage on the interface provided by the MM4 reference point.

The receipt of these messages by the originating MMS relay/server isdenoted by step 318.

The originating MMS relay/server 106 a, in step 320, then determines anyfurther action to be taken responsive to the acknowledgement message(s)received from the recipient MMS relay/server. The originating MMSrelay/server thus analyses these acknowledgment messages. For example,when an acknowledgement message indicates that transmission has faileddue to a transient fault or error, the originating MMS relay/server 106a preferably resends the MMS to the destination MMS relay/server 106 b,identifying the recipients associated with the transient fault.

Referring to Table 2 above, in the case of an“Error-sending-address-unresolved” status code, it is futile to attemptretransmission. In the case of an “Error-content-not-accepted” statuscode, the originating MMS relay/server may perform content adaptation todowngrade the pdu content to comply with the OMA ConformanceSpecification which defines the message contents that all user agentsshould support and then attempt retransmission. In the case of an“Error-network-problem” status code a retransmission may be attemptedwithout pdu adaptation after a suitable interval (the interval beingtypically a configurable attribute of the originating MMS relay/server)

In the example shown in FIG. 2, a signal 216 is transmitted to thedestination MMS relay/server 106 b, identifying recipients b and e.

Referring to the flow chart of FIG. 3, after analysing theacknowledgements received from the recipient MMS relay/server, theoriginating MMS relay/server determines in a step 322 if anyretransmission is appropriate. If not, the activity on the MM4 referencepoint interface ends in step 324. If retransmissions are appropriate,then in step 326 the originating MMS relay/server creates and sends anew MMS request message for the recipients associated with theretransmission to the recipient MMS relay/server. Steps 306 to 320 arethen repeated.

The destination MMS relay/server 106 b again processes the transmissionof the message to each of the recipients b and e. This is representedgraphically in FIG. 2 by the signals 218 b and 218 e.

On this occasion the destination MMS relay/server 106 b determines an“Ok” status code for recipients b and e. This is denoted, graphically,by the transmission of signals 220 b and 220 e. A furtheracknowledgement message as denoted by signal 222 is returned to theoriginating MMS relay/server 106 a which identifies recipients b and eand indicates the status to be “ok”.

It should be noted that in an MMS system architecture there exists aknown separate delivery report concept which is controlled by theoriginating MMS user agent. The originating MMS user agent can requestin a MMS message a delivery report which is delivered to the MMS useragent after a successful delivery of the MMS. This MMS delivery reportfeature does not use the acknowledgement mechanism described above andis outside the scope of the invention. However, principles describedabove may be used in other communication systems to provide a messageoriginator with a status indication (acknowledgement) of a messageaddressed to multiple recipients.

The MMS relay/server, when functioning as the originating MMS, requiressome adaptation in order to deal with the re-transmission of messagesfor individual recipients. However retransmission of messages after atransient failure is a typical feature of MMS relay/servers. The onlyadditional functionality needed to support the described invention is todetermine which recipients of a MM4_forward.REQ pdu have a transientfailure associated with them, and to retransmit only to this set ofrecipients.

The invention advantageously allows for the originating MMS relay/serverto identify the specific recipients to which a message is delivered ornot delivered. As the originating MMS controller is responsible forbilling a user who sent a message, it is advantageous for theoriginating MMS controller to know the status of a transmitted message,and to have control in respect of making a decision as to whethermessages should be resent to failed recipients.

The invention has been described in the context of an MMS environment.However the invention is not limited to such an environment, and may bemore generally applicable. The invention applies to any architecture ornetwork in which a message is sent addressed to a plurality ofrecipients, and in which an acknowledgement may be returned whichidentifies at least one of such recipients and a status associated witha delivery of the message to that recipient.

In the above-described MMS embodiment, a plurality of response messagesmay be sent to the originating MMS relay/server, corresponding to aplurality of status codes. However, alternative techniques for providingthe status codes and associated recipients may be provided. For example,as an alternative solution to minimise the amount of message transferredbetween two MMS relay/servers one response message (e.g. MM4_forward.RESpdu message) may identify several status codes, and a separate recipientinformation element for every status indication. In a furtheralternative it may be possible to enumerate the status codes (errors)and recipients in the MM4_forward.RES message, so that the status of thesame number in the list applies to the recipient with the same number inthe corresponding list. However this approach is not ideal, as it maycause a backward compatibility problem. Further, it may be possible toprovide two new headers (not using existing “request status” header):one for the list of recipients and the other for the list of statusvalues.

In some communication systems the message delivery or the determinationof whether message can be delivered to all recipients can take arelatively long time due to some reasons in the network or onrecipients' side (e.g. network problems, terminal out of coverage,recipient's mailbox is full). In such case a partial response can besent with the corresponding status indication to those recipients towhom the message delivery succeeded or an error occurred immediately. Afinal response for the rest of the recipients can be sent later when thefinal status of each individual delivery is known. Further, in somecommunication systems acknowledgement message(s) with status indicationsmight be delivered, not only between core network elements, but also tothe actual end user which originated the message to the multiplerecipients. In particular, if the originating terminal is a mobiledevice, it is more efficient to transfer only one collectiveacknowledgement over the low bandwidth air interface. Theacknowledgement message can be shown to a user as a normal receivedmessage or alternatively it can be used as a delivery report to providea user with a status indication of the sent message by indicating thestatus of the delivery per each recipient or per several recipients.

A further example implementation of the technique of the presentinvention is in the context of session initiation protocol (SIP)messaging or instant messaging (IM). In SIP there exist an active workitem at IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force, www.ietf.org) relating toso called SIP Exploder concept. An example of a SIP exploder message isa request sent from a single user to, for example, a server. The messageis then transmitted on, immediately or at the given moment of time, fromthe server to a plurality of further users. In accordance with theprinciples of the invention as described hereinabove, each of themessages sent to the plurality of users may return an acknowledgementmessage to the server, and in this way the server may return to theoriginating user a status of the message transmission for each user orusers. It is also possible to derive a status indication for a recipientfrom other signals or error messages received from the network. Further,in a case no response any kind is received from the network or from theuser, the status of the delivery for that recipient can be set tounknown, e.g. after a certain time.

The invention has been described in the context of a particular,non-limiting example, as specifically in the context of an MMSenvironment and inter-MMS environment communication. It will beunderstood by one skilled in the art that the invention is not limitedto such an environment, and may have more broadly applicable use. Thescope of the invention is defined by the appended claims.

1. A method, comprising: receiving at a recipient relay/server a requestaddressed to multiple recipients, the request being from an originatorrelay/server; determining at said recipient relay/server a status of therequest for each recipient before attempting to deliver the request, thestatus of the request indicates whether the recipient address is valid;and transmitting a response from said recipient relay/server identifyingat least one recipient of the multiple recipients and the status of therequest for said at least one recipient.
 2. The method according toclaim 1, wherein said determining the status of the request for eachrecipient comprises determining whether the request is transmittable tosaid each recipient.
 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein saiddetermining the status of the request for each recipient comprisesexamining user profile data of said multiple recipients.
 4. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the receiving of the request addressed tosaid multiple recipients comprises receiving a request to transmit therequest to said multiple recipients.
 5. The method according to claim 1,wherein said transmitting comprises transmitting the response, whereinthe response comprises a plurality of messages, each message identifyingsaid at least one recipient, and each message including one of acorresponding plurality of statuses.
 6. The method according to claim 1,wherein said transmitting comprises transmitting the response, whereinthe response comprises at least one message identifying a plurality ofsets of recipients and a corresponding plurality of statuses of therequest, each status associated with a set of said recipients.
 7. Themethod according to claim 6, wherein each set of said plurality of setscomprises at least one recipient.
 8. The method according to claim 1,wherein the status of the request comprises one of: content of themessage not accepted; and a message accepted.
 9. The method according toclaim 1, wherein the response identifies a plurality of recipients andthe status of the request is common for all of said identified pluralityof recipients.
 10. The method according to claim 1, further comprisingtransmitting the response to the originator relay/server.
 11. The methodaccording to claim 10, wherein a request originator has a mailbox andthe response is transmitted to the mailbox.
 12. The method according toclaim 10, wherein said transmitting comprises transmitting the response,wherein the response identifies a plurality of recipients and theassociated status for each of said plurality of the multiple recipients.13. The method according to claim 1, further comprising using sessioninitiation protocol for at least one of the request and said response.14. The method according to claim 1, wherein said receiving comprisesreceiving the request, wherein the request comprises a multi-mediaservice request.
 15. An apparatus, comprising: a receiver configured toreceive a request addressed to multiple recipients, the request beingfrom an originator relay/server; a determining unit configured todetermine a status of the request for each recipient before an attemptis made to deliver the request, the status of the request indicateswhether the recipient address is valid; and a transmitter configured totransmit a response, the response identifying at least one recipient andthe status of the request for said at least one recipient.
 16. Theapparatus according to claim 15, wherein the transmitter is configuredto transmit a plurality of responses identifying at least one recipient,each of said plurality of messages including one of a correspondingplurality of statuses.
 17. A method according to claim 1, wherein thedetermining the status of the request for each recipient beforeattempting to deliver the request comprises determining an indication ofthe status of the request for each recipient before attempting to pushinformation about the request to the respective recipient as part of amessage notification.
 18. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein saidapparatus comprises a multimedia service relay, a server, and arelay/server.
 19. An apparatus, comprising: receiving means forreceiving a request addressed to multiple recipients, the request beingfrom an originator relay/server; determining means for determining astatus of the request for each recipient before an attempt is made todeliver the request, the status of the request indicates whether therecipient address is valid; and transmitting means for transmitting aresponse, the response identifying at least one recipient and anassociated status of the request for said at least one recipient.
 20. Amethod as claimed in claim 1, wherein the request comprises anMM4_forward.REQ message.
 21. A method as claimed in claim 1, whereinsaid response comprises an MM4_forward.RES message.